ACCESSION NUMBER:292366
FILE ID:AEF404
DATE:07/01/93
TITLE:CLINTON'S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER TALKS ON IRAQ, U.N. (07/01/93)
TEXT:*93070104.AEF SUB:U.N. CO:WNET:LAKE/IRAQ/UNI-VS. MULTILATERAL,#CC(FR),JS,HRs
*AEF404 07/01/93 *
CLINTON'S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER TALKS ON IRAQ, U.N.
(FR) (U.S. acted unilaterally pursuant to U.N.) (600)
By Charles W. Corey
USIA Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- While the United States, like any other sovereign nation,
reserves its right to act in its unilateral self-interest, it "prefers to
act" in concert with other international partners, President Clinton's
national security adviser told an African television audience June 30.
Anthony Lake made that point in comments to African reporters in Dakar and
Harare on a Worldnet "Dialogue" program, broadcast from Washington by the
United States Information Agency.
Lake cited the U.S. missile attack on Iraq's intelligence headquarters in
Baghdad June 26 as an example of when unilateral action was warranted.
"When there are attacks on Americans -- and the plot to attack President
Bush in Kuwait was such an attack -- then the United States will respond
unilaterally."
Referring to that attack, he further explained, "The United States very
carefully said that it was acting pursuant to Article 51 of the United
Nations Charter, because we believe in international law."
Article 51 reads, "Nothing in the present charter shall impair the inherent
right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs
against a member of the United Nations...."
While unilateral action was taken in this case, Lake noted that in other
1ypes of situations, multilateral action would be preferable.
"The fact is," he explained, that "in this extraordinary new world -- the
greatest opportunities for our diplomacy involve multilateral action, and
many American interests are synonymous with the interests of many African
nations and many other nations around the world.
"That is why we are seeing an extraordinary increase now in the importance
of the United Nations and in the importance specifically of United Nations
peace-keeping operations, which we are now supporting.
"In short, the United States must and will act unilaterally when it must,"
he stressed, "but we are more and more interested in acting multilaterally
and in leading multilateral efforts to resolve our international problems."
Like the United States, he said, "an extraordinary number of African nations
are also participating in international peace-keeping operations -- not
just in Africa but far beyond" that continent.
Citing an example, he said: "There are troops from Namibia...halfway around
the world in Cambodia -- where those troops are supporting democracy in
Cambodia, just as the United Nations helped bring about the birth of
democracy in Namibia. It really is one shrinking world."
Asked if he sees any conflict between U.S. national interest and that of the
United Nations, Lake said: "Since we are a member of the Security Council
-- and therefore have an opportunity to help shape its resolutions and
ultimately can vote no -- all Security Council resolutions are resolutions
that ultimately we have agreed to and believe are in our interest. Again,
as I said,...increasingly -- in a smaller and smaller world -- our
interests are bound up with the interests of other nations.
"Don't misunderstand me," he further stressed, "when I say we will act
alone, it is because all nations must act alone when their interests
require it. But our preference is to act with others.
Asked about conflict resolution and prevention, Lake said: "This is
something that we are very interested in, and we hope..., very much, that
the OAU can do more in this regard. I think we have been encouraged by the
OAU's efforts, for example, in Rwanda, to take more of a leadership role
there, and we hope very much that it happens in the future."
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